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-4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. W. DOW & T. R. GRIFFITH. ELEGTRIGAL LIMITING TIME INTERVAL CLAMP 0RBRAKE.

No. 512,687. Patented Jam-16, 1894.

(No Model.)

QR) a w V 1 /504412. Grz'f/Z'fiq w W y 1 m u A norm. LIYHOCIAPNINGcoumnv.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. W. DOW &: T. R. GRIFFITH.

ELECTRICAL LIMITING TIME INTERVAL CLAMP 0R BRAKE.

N0. 512,687. Patented Jan. 16,1894.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 3. A. W. DOW 81 T. R. GRIFFITH. ELECTRICALLIMITING TIME INTERVAL CLAMP OR BRAKE.

No. 512,687. Patented Jan. 16,1894.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 4. A. W. DOW 8: T. R. GRIFFITH.

ELECTRICAL LIMITING TIME INTERVAL CLAMP OR BRAKE.

Patented Jan. 16, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLAN IV. DOlV, OF NElV YORK, AND THOMAS R. GRIFFITH, OF BROOKLYN, NEVYORK.

ELECTRICAL LIMITING TIME-INTERVAL CLAMP OR BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 512,687, dated January16, 1894.

Application filed December 27, 1892. Serial No. 456,491. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: dial 2, with pointer S that is connected toan Be it known that we, ALLAN IV. DOW, reaxle I. A thread is fastened atone end to siding in the city of New York, county of the axle at and atits other end to the free end New York, and THOMAS R. GRIFFITH, residofaponderable lever arm 6, thatis preferably 5 ing in the city ofBrooklyn, county of Kings, pivoted, as at '7, to the frame. Thelever-arm State of New York, have invented an Eleccarries upon itsextremity a penetrator S, tricalLimiting Time-Interval Clamp orBrake,that, by the weight of the lever-arm, may be of which the following is aspecification, refcaused to penetratea mass of liquid, or semierencebeiughad to the accompanying drawliquid, indicated at 9. The verticalmove- IO ings. ment of the lever-arm is communicated by The object ofour invention is to produce the thread to the pointer, by which it isindian apparatus designed to open a clamp; to cated upon the dial indegrees of rotary mehold it open during any desired interval of tion. Inthis manner, by comparison, the time; and to close the clamp at the endof relative viscosity of the mass at 9 may be de- 6 15 the interval.termiued.

lVe contemplate the application of this ap- The mechanism abovedescribed constiparatus to any known device, such as a clamp, tutes nopart of our invention, but serves to brake, and the like, where aclamping action, illustrate a special application of it. or releasethereof, for a definite interval of In operating the machine abovedescribed, .2c time is required. A specific application, how and inmaking comparison of its results, the ever, is made to a machine fordetermining distance of the movement of the lever-arm, viscosity,invented by II. C. Bowen. See Pator which is the same thing, of thethread ent No. 94,974, issued April 14-, 1893. must be taken for a giveninterval of time.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is In its application to thismachine our inven- 25 a perspective view of the Bowen machine,tionisdesigned to operativelyconnectaclamp showing the application ofour invention in adapted to control the movementof the thread itssimplest form. Fig. 2 isa diagrammatical with a suitable time keeper, ortime measurside elevation of that form of our apparatus. ing apparatus,so that it is automatically Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion ofthe clamped, released, and clamped again during 30 same; and Fig. 4 anend View thereof. Fig. a definite interval of time, mechanically de- 5is a diagrammatical view in end elevation termined by the time-keeper.of a modified form of pendulum and contact Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3,and 4. of the drawmercury cup. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical ings, 10indicates a horizontal platform carview showing our invention asdesigned to ried upon the frame 1, and which carries a 5 render themeasurement of certain intervals perpendicular post 11 in closeproximity to of time automatic. Fig. 7 is a similar view, the verticalthread 5. 12 indicates a bindingshowing mechanism for renderingautomatic post fixed upon the platform and terminating the measurementof greater intervals of time at its upper end in a reduced neck orspindle than those designed to be measured by the 13, upon which ispivotally supporteda clampo apparatus shown in Fig. 6. ing-lever 14.This lever, although it may be In Fig.1 of the drawings we have, asabove of any suitable construction and arrangestated, illustrated theapplication of our apment, and carried in any suitable manner, isparatus in its simplest form to a Bowen ma designed to clamp against thepost 11 for exchine. The apparatus illustrated in Figs. 5, ample, andgrip between it and the post the 5 6, and 7 are equally applicable tothe same thread 5. It may be conveniently formed in machine, and are notto be regarded as modithe shape of a bell-crank lever, and haveatfications of our invention, but as amplificatached to its short arm aspring 15 that is fastions thereof. tened at its other end to a spring16 project- Referringto the numerals upon Fig.1of the ing from the topof the platform. Upon its I00 50 drawings, 1 indicates a frame of aBowen long arm,preferably near its extremity, is semachine, upon whichis carried a measuring cured an armature 17 that is within the field ofan electro-magnet 18. The tendency of the spring 15, as illustrated, isto keep the armature separated from the magnet; but that tendency islimited by a stop-pin 19 projecting from the top of the platform in thepath of the short arm of the lever. Upon its extremity the lever 14preferably carries a thin spring contact-plate 20 which is designed tomake contact with a binding-post 21 through a set-screw 22 for example,said post and screw constituting a contact making binding post.

As above stated, we employ any suitable time-measuring apparatus, as forexample a pendulum 23, which may be adjusted to swing a desiredinterval. It carries a contact-arm '24, preferably made of wire, andcurved as crum 3l carrying a key-lever 32, and contactpoints 33 and 34.v

35 indicates a spring located between the base of the key and thekey-lever, tending to make a constant contact at the point 33.

36 indicates a suitable source of electricity, as for example a battery.

The apparatus is wired as follows: A wire 37 connects the battery withthe binding-post 12. A wire 38 connects it with the coils of the magnet.A wire 39 connects it with the time-keeper. A wire 40 connects it withthe key-point 34. A wire 41 connects the remaining end of the coils ofthe magnet with the key-point 33, through the post 21. A wire 42connects the mercury-cup 26 with the keyfulcrum 31.

1 In operation, suppose the lever 14 to be clamping the thread 5, andthe time-keeper to be in operation, the current will, under theseconditions, pass from the battery 36 to the binding-post 12, through thelever 14 to the binding-post 21, by way of contact between contact plate20 and screw 22 to and through the magnet back to the battery. Thisclamping is irrespective of the movement of the pendulum so long as thekey 32 is not pressed down to make connection at 34. To have the lever14 release the thread for an interval of two swings of the pendulum-thatis to say, from the time the pendulum reaches the extremity of one swingto the time of its return to the same position, the operation is asfollows: The contact arm 24 having been adjusted so as to dip its endinto the mercury-cup 26 each time it makes a complete stroke backwardand forward, the key 32 is, while the arm 24 is out of the mercury inthe cup, pressed down to make connection at 34. The lever continues toclamp the thread until the contact-arm 24 touches the mercury, when thecurrent is short circuited bypassing from the battery to pendulumthrough arm 24 to mercury in cup 26, thence to key, out through point 34to battery. Upon the interruption of the current through the coils ofthe magnet, the armature 17 is released, the lever 14 yields to thetension of the spring 15, and the thread 5 is released. At the same timeconnection is broken between the plate 20 and the screw 22. As soon asthe arm 24 has left the mercury, the operator releases the key 32,which, swinging back to its former position, breaks at 34, and makesconnection at 33. With the next swing of the pendulum, which brings thearm 24 in contact with mercury in cup 26, a current flows from thebattery to pendulum by way of arm 24 through the mercury to key fulcrum31, out through point 33, and by way of post 21 through the coils of themagnet to the battery. The magnet becoming thereby r'emagnetizedattracts its armature 17 and clamps the lever 14 upon the thread 5against the post 11. At the same time it makes connection between theplate 20 and the screw 22, which,restoring the conditions named in thebeginning, causes the clamp to remain closed until the key 32 is againpressed down, when the operation maybe repeated as before. To secure therelease of the thread for a greater number of seconds than may beprovided for in one complete swing of the pendulum, the key 32 should beheld down to make contact at 34 until the pendulum is on the swing ofthe last second of the required interval. To render the apparatusoperative for an interval less than 0.5 of a second, we connect thebinding posts 12 and 21, thus making a continuous circuit from batteryby way of 12 to 21 through the coils of the magnet back to battery. Thenraise the mercury-cup 26 until, when the pendulum isswinging normally,the arm 24 will be in contact with the mercury in the cup during thedesired interval. Then,

while the arm 24 is out of the mercury, press and hold the key 32 tomake connection at 34. Upon the return of the pendulum and the contactof the arm 24 with the mercury'in the cup, the current will beshort-circuited, as above described, so long as the arm 24 maintainscontact with the mercury. During that interval the magnet, beingdemagnetized, will release the lever 14, as above described, and permitthe movement of the thread 5. After the lever 14 has been againattracted by breaking of contact between the arm 24 and the mercury, theoperator again releases the key, breaking connection at 34.

To obtain any interval of release of the thread, except those previouslydescribed, greater than 0.5 second, the following conditions arerequired: A pendulum which can be regulated by any known method, so thatthe single swing may be any interval of time between 0.5 and 0.75 of asecond, is provided, as illustrated in Fig. 5 with a second contactarm43 that is adapted to dip by the vibration of the pendulum into a secondmercury-cup 44 carried upon a bracket-arm 45, and adjust able by meansof a set-screw 46. 47 indicates a wire by which it is connected with theother mercury-cup and with the wire 42, thereby bringing it intooperative relations with the apparatusabovedescribed. Foranyinterval ofrelease of the thread, ranging from 0.5 to 0.75 of a second, the mercurycups 26 and 44 should be adjusted so that their respective arms 24 and43, just touch the mercury at the end of each swing of the pendulum. Toobtain the release for the desired interval of time the pendulum isregulated to beat the desired interval, and the apparatus is worked asdescribed for the release of the thread at the end of the double swingof pendulum, except that in this case the release will be made beforethe close of the single swing, or next contact of the arm 24 with thecup 26.

For securing any interval of release over one second, the operation isas follows: The number of seconds released is divided by the smallestnumber that will give a quotient between 0.5 and 0.75 of a second. Byregulating the pendulum so thatit-s swing shall equal the fraction of asecond represented by the quotient found, and by holding the key 32 downduring a number of swings equal to the divisor, the release will be forthe desired interval. For example a release of 8.1 seconds is required.Eleven is the lowest number that will divide 8.1, giving a quotient(0.737) between 0.5 and 0.75. Therefore fora release of 8.1 seconds, thependulum would be regulated so that one swing would equal 0.737 second,and as eleven swings of such a pendulum would equal 8.1 seconds, the key32 should be pressed down and held until just before the end of theeleventh swing from the time of release of the thread. For the releaseof the thread for any interval from 0.75 to one second, regulate thependulum so that it will beat 0.75 of a second. Both mercury cups areused and connected, as shown in Fig. 5. One mercury-cup, say 44 shouldbe adjusted so that the arm 43 will just connect with the mercury in 44at the extreme end of its normal swing. The other cup 26 should beraised so that the arm 24 will make the connection with it the fractionof a second before the end of a swing, which, added to 0.75, will equalthe desired interval. The arrangement of the other parts is the same asin obtaining an interval, ranging from 0.5 to 0.75 of asecond, as abovedescribed. Care must be taken in this instance to press the key down toform a contact at 34, after the arm 43 has left the mercury in the cup44, so that the next connection will be made between the arm 24 and themercury in cup 26, and that the key is not released after the arm 24 hasleft cup 26.

If it be found undesirable or inconvenient, on account of lack of time,or other reason,to allow the key 32 to spring back to contact with thepoint 33 between the releasing and clamping of lever 14, an appliancemay be introduced, as illustrated in Fig. 6, by which the lever 14 will,after being released, automatically clamp at the next contact of arm 24with mercury-cup 26, or arm 43 with mercury-cup 44 (see Fig. 5) whetherthe key 32 is in contact with or 34. This is obtained by running a wire48 from point 34 to a contact point 49 which is fastened to butinsulated from the lever 14, preferably in its short arm. This point is,when the lever 14 is clamping, and not otherwise, in contact with aspring-plate 50, fastened to but insulated from the post19. From thespring-plate 50a wire 51 runs to the battery 36, thereby renderingitpossible to short-circuit the current only when the lever 14 isclamping. When the lever 14 is not clamping the point 49 will be incontact with a screw 52 in the post 19, as illus trated in dotted linesin Fig. 6 of the drawings. At the next contact of the arm 24 or 43 withthe cup 26 or 44, while contact is made with the key and point 34, thecurrent will fiow from battery 36 with the arm 24 or 43 and cup 26 or44, as it may happen, to the key 32, and thence through the point 34 tothe contact point 49 to the post 19, and by way of wire 53 to post 21,and thence through the coils of the magnet to the battery. It should beobserved in this connection that the wire communicates only with theplate 50, and that the post 19 is equally insulated from the wire andfrom that plate. All the connections not otherwise specified are asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. By this appliance all thatis necessary is to press the key 32 to make contact at 34, and theapparatus will release and clamp automatically for the stated interval.After the lever 14 has clamped release the key 32.

To make the apparatus clamp automatically at the end of any interval oftime greater than the double swing of the pendulum, the deviceillustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings, may be applied to thetime-keeper.

Referring to the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings,54indicates any wheel of the time-keeper, or in connection therewith.For the purposes of this description, let it represent a wheel on theaxle 55 of a seconds hand of a clock. The numbers 56 to 67, inclusive,indicate holes, into which metal pins 68 to 71, inclusive, can beinserted and removed at will. 72 indicates a spring, lever, orany knowndevice that is adapted, as the wheel 54 revolves, to make contactsuccessively with the pins 68, &c., or as many of them as shall be inplace. In Fig. 7 the wheel 54 is pictured as having twelve holes, andhas been described as making one revolution a minute; hence a hole willpass the springor lever 72 every five seconds. If the pendulum of theclock has a half second swing, each pin should remain in contact withlever 72 for an interval of time between one and two seconds, so as toinsure at least one contact of the arm 24 with mercury in cup 26; whilethe lever 72 and pin 68, for example, are in contact. The wireconnection is the same in Fig. 1, ex-

cept that instead of a wire direct from the pendulum 23, which forms apart of the clock works direct to the battery 36, a wire 73 is run fromthe battery to the spring 72, thus making it impossible for a current toflow through the pendulum, except the spring 72 and one of the pins 68,&c., be in contact.

This apparatus is worked as follows: Suppose a release of fifteenseconds time is recontact with and releases the spring 72.

While the lever 32 and the point 34 are in contact, the first contact ofthe arm 24 with the mercury-cup 26, during the passage of pin 68 overspring 72, will cause the current to be short circuited, as describedwith reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Then upon releasing the key 32, andallowing it to comein contact with the point 83, the apparatus will notclamp until the first contact of arm 24 with the mercury in cup 26 whilethe pin 69 is passing over lever 72. The current from battery 36 topendulum 23 being restored on the contact of pin 68 with lever 72, theapparatus will clamp as described under descrip These pins may be placedon any wheel of a clock, and at any distance tions 1 and 2.

from each other on any such wheel. In this way any desired interval oftime can be obtained between the contact of one pin with the spring 72and the contact thereof of the next pin. If, in Figs. 1 and 2, the wiresto points 33 and 34 be reversed; that is, the wire to 33 run to 34, andthe wire to 34 run to 33, the action of the apparatus will be thereverse of that already described. In the former case the armature 17with the lever 14 was attracted and held; in this case it would bereleased and remain so. Thus, if desirable, the clamp might be placed onthe opposite side of the lever 14 from that illustrated in the drawings,and the spring would hold the clamp closed, the magnet acting to producethe interval of release.

We do not desire to limit ourselves in any particular to the details 'ofconstruction herein shown and described, because they may be varied inmany respects without departing from the scope of our invention. Forinstance any suit-able mechanism might be substituted for the springcontact plate and its screw 22 on the post 21. The clamp may be locatedat any point on the lever 14. The location of the fulcrum and of thecontact plate 20, with respect to the lever, may be varied indefinitely,or the several parts may be replaced by any device that will cause thecurrent to flow through the magnet while thelever is clamping, and breakthe circuit on release of the lever. This also applies to the connectionbetween the spring plates 49 and. 50 and 49 and 52. The lever 14 maybeeither simple or compound, or may transmit its motion and power by anyknown device to any desired point. Instead of the time-measurin gapparatus shown and the contact'arms 24 and the mercury-cup 26, or theirduplicates, any suitable device may be employed.

What we claim is- 1. The combination with a clamp or brake andtimekeeper, of electrically -actuated mechanism operatively connectedwith each for controlling the clamp during definite intervals of time,substantially as described.

2. The combination with aframe and ponderable lever-arm carrying apenetrator, a

thread connected at one end with the leverarm, and at the other end withan indicator, of a clamp adapted to control the movement of the thread,a time-keeper,and-electricallyactuated mechanism operatively connectedwith the clamp and with the time-keeper, whereby the clamp may becontrolled for definite intervals of time, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

3. The combination with a clamp and electro-magnet adapted to actuatethe same, a source of electrical supply wired to the clamp and to thecoils of the magnet, a key, wired to the coils of the magnet and to thebattery, whereby an electric current may be passed through or around themagnet to operate the clamp, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a clamp, electromagnet, and source of electricalsupply, the latter being connected with the clamp and with the coils ofthe magnet, a key, connected with the coils of the magnet, atime-keeper, a wire connecting the fulcrum of the key with the source ofelectrical supply through the time-keeper, and an intermittent contactmaking mechanism, actuated by the time-keeper to pass current throughthe wire, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination with a clamp electromagnet, and source of electricalsupply, the latter connected with the clamp and with the coils ofthemagnet,of acontact making binding-post in the path of the clampadapted to make and break contact therewith, a key connected with thecoils of the magnet and with the battery through an intermittent contactmaking time mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination with a spring-actuated clamp, an electro-magnet andsource of electrical supply, the latter being wired to the clamp and tothe magnet,a key connected with the coils of the magnet and with thesource of electrical supply through awire, of time mechanism providedwith double contact arms adapted to intermittently make and breakcontact through the wire, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

7. The combination with a clamp, electromagnet, and source of electricalsupply, the latter communicating with the coils of the magnet and withthe clamp, a key connected with the coils of the magnet and with thebattery, of .a wire connecting the fulcrum of the ICC key-lever with thebattery through intermittent time contact-making mechanism, aclock-wheel provided with removable pins, and a spring-lever adapted tomake connection with the pins at regular intervals of the rotation ofthe Wheel, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony of all which we have hereunto subscribed our names.

ALLAN \V. DOW. THOMAS H. GRIFFITH. Witnesses:

JOHN P. WHITEHORN, JosEPH L. ATKINS.

